kevin mitnickconsidered one of the most famous hackers in history, has died at the age of 59 after battling pancreatic cancer for more than a year.
The Kevin Mitnick case generated special interest in society and the media for being one of the first hackers sought by the FBI and subsequently arrested. After a persecution —which was later documented in the book Takedown by John Markoff—in 1995, he spent four and a half years in jail awaiting trial. In addition, he was held for eight and a half months in solitary confinement. According to Mitnick, because the police convinced a judge that he “was capable of starting a nuclear war by whistling a pay phone.”
The long judicial process unleashed one of the first campaigns that could be considered viral on the Internet. Dozens of media, forums, and even the first blogs on the web published images calling for his release. They simply prayed free kevin.
In total, after his arrest in 1995, Mitnick spent 5 years in prison. He was released in January 2000 after reaching an agreement with the Prosecutor’s Office, in which he pleaded guilty to some of the charges in exchange for a lesser sentence and thus avoid part of the judicial process.
As part of the agreement, Kevin Mitnick could not use any technological device beyond a landline phone for three years. In addition, for seven years he could not capitalize on his story through books, series or movies for seven years.
Kevin Mitnick: hacker since the age of 12
Kevin Mitnick showed social and technological skills to hack and manipulate systems from an early age. He approached a bus driver and asked where he could buy his own ticket punching device for “a school project.”
After acquiring it, he was able to travel on any bus in Los Angeles with unused tickets that were found in a trash can near a parking area of one of the bus companies that operated in the city.
His first access to a computer network was in 1979, when he was 16 years old. A friend gave the access phone to Ark, from the DEC company, which was later acquired by Compaq, where the RSTS/E operating system was being developed. Mitnick was able to log into the system and download the software. After being discovered, he was sentenced to 12 months in jail and three years under supervision.
Shortly before the end of his sentence, Kevin Mitnick in 1981, together with two friends, entered the COSMOS (Computer System for Mainframe Operations) offices of Pacific Bell (today AT&T) and obtained the list of security keys, combinations of the access doors of various branches and various manuals. All this information was valued at two hundred thousand dollars at the time. They also had access to the phone’s voice mail system. This cost her his first conviction in juvenile court.
In 1982 he slipped into NORAD, in 1983 into the Pentagon. He even went so far as to issue a fake driver’s license to the California Department of Vehicles, who offered a million dollars to whoever managed to catch the hacker.
The controversial Kevin Mitnick
Kevin Mitnick’s activity and his achievements, at the time they occurred, generated fear in the authorities, due to the novelty of his actions. Also concern among the hacked companies, because it revealed the minimal computer security and the little importance they gave to the protection of their clients’ data, or to their intellectual property in the form of software.
In fact, the case against Kevin Mitnick tested the US legal system and new laws against unauthorized access to digital networks and data. It also continues to be a great example of the media’s influence over the police, as Mitnick’s actions generated a ton of media attention.
A sector of public opinion considers that the punishment and persecution of Kevin Mitnick was unfair, including part of the media coverage of the case. Several of the charges are also considered by many to be fraudulent, as they caused no financial loss of any kind.
Mitnick wrote four books in his lifetime, all published after his release from five years in prison. the art of deception, the art of intrusion, A ghost in the system and The art of invisibility.